After struggling for years with overbudget overtime costs in the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department, county officials appear to have found a way to slash it - just charge the townships.

Rather than pay the overtime tab, some township officials have decided they'd rather reduce service. For residents, that can mean a longer wait for a police car to arrive.
In the first eight months of the year, Washtenaw County reported a 26 percent drop in overtime in the sheriff's department - not including overtime for the jail - compared to the same period in 2007.

Under the county's new policy, the 13 townships and villages contracting for police service are now billed for all overtime, including hours previously picked up by the county.

In 2007, the county provided a contracted amount of hours to each township and then charged townships $10,000 for overtime for each deputy, which didn't always cover the total costs. With the new contracts that started Jan. 1, the county charges townships a straight fee for each deputy and then charges the townships for all applicable overtime.

The contract fees have been a matter of controversy since the county began efforts to identify and recover more of the costs roughly a decade ago.

Much of the overtime was the result of providing fill-ins when deputies assigned to contracting communities had time off or were or sick leave.

Scio Township is one of the communities that made the decision to lower its level of police service rather than pay the overtime premium. From January through August, if one of the township's five deputies was had time off or was out sick, Scio Township did without a replacement.

During those times, there were eight-hour shifts without any contracted deputy patrols. That meant state police and deputies paid for by the county were available only on an emergency basis.

That would have made longer delays for services for all non-emergency 9-1-1 calls. For instance, if a deputy was needed for a report for something like a dog bite, the wait could be several hours.

Police service was among the major issues in Scio Township's crowded primary election.

Last month, township officials changed their policy and agreed to pay overtime for replacements. Scio Township also recently agreed to hire two more deputies.

Assessing the cost of overtime to townships appears to have reduced the county's costs by more than $331,000 between January and August. This year overtime costs for the sheriff's department, not including the jail, ran $928,412 through the end of August, compared to $1.26 million for the same period last year.

Still, the debate may not be over.

County officials say the overall cost of contracted deputies is still not met by the townships that receive the services.

The county estimates that contracting townships pay $136,503 of the total cost of $183,427 for each deputy. That total cost includes overhead and supervision.
The gap doesn't sit well with county Commissioner Leah Gunn, D-Ann Arbor, who represents Ann Arbor.

"We are still subsidizing them," Gunn said.

Like other municipalities that maintain their own police departments, Ann Arbor residents pay taxes for its own city police and also help pay for county deputies.

"We are still paying twice," Gunn said. "I think townships are responsible to provide their own police services."